


Rouge Vif d'Étampes & Chill

by Maerissa



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Choose Your Own Adventure, Cooking, Fluff, Halloween, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:34:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27594886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maerissa/pseuds/Maerissa
Summary: Felix finds himself condemned to the worst possible fate: having afun timecarvingpumpkinswith hisfriends(and also Dimitri is there, as much as Felix tries not to acknowledge him).(written for Dimilix Spiderweb: a collaborative Halloween event)
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert & Dedue Molinaro, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8
Collections: Dimilix Spiderweb 2020





	Rouge Vif d'Étampes & Chill

**Author's Note:**

> This is segment A1 of the [General](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/DimilixSpiderweb2020/works/27499840) route of the Dimilix Spiderweb choose-your-own-adventure story!
> 
> To enjoy this story to the fullest, please start [ at the introduction](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/DimilixSpiderweb2020/works/27461230) or play [the visual novel version](https://dimilixweb.itch.io/spiderweb2020)!

"Absolutely not. I have no interest in proving anything to any of you."

Felix, more than a little indignant at the implication that he’s even slightly scared, twists his hand out of Dimitri’s and stands up with a scowl.

"It wasn’t a ghost, and that’s final. In fact, you’re naive for even thinking that could be the case."

He storms off towards the kitchen, muttering about wanting to "get something decent to eat that isn’t sweet enough to rot my teeth", then stops in the doorway and turns to Claude.

"And by the way," he continues, scowl deepening at the bemused expression on Claude’s face, "your story wasn’t scary at all. Not believable in the slightest."

With that final stand-offish remark, he disappears into the kitchen, a concerned Dimitri following a few paces behind him.

* * *

Still flushed, Felix readjusts his cape and starts rummaging through the kitchen drawers, looking for anything to help cool him down. The drawers (at least the ones Dedue and Mercedes haven’t touched) are dusty enough to draw on, and getting them open takes some work. As soon as he pulls the topmost drawer out and sees the handles of several heavy-duty kitchen knives, though, he starts to feel his tense shoulder muscles relaxing. Finally, _comfort_.

"Ugh, the state of these," he mumbles to himself, as he picks a sharp-looking one out of the drawer and feels the weight of it in his hand. Granted, the whole mansion is in a state of disrepair, but even then Felix absolutely can’t excuse shoddy knife maintenance.

"Ah, Felix!"

That voice. Of _course_ Dimitri would follow him in here. He instinctively moves to turn his back to the doorway, and his gaze drifts onto the hollowed-out, ready-to-carve pumpkins lined up on the far side of the kitchen counter. Willing to do anything to ignore Dimitri right now, he walks over with determined steps and grabs the largest one with his knifeless hand.

"Felix, is everything alri– ah, the pumpkins?"

Felix breathes in to deliver his prepared "shut up, boar, I’m carving" line, but stops himself in time to realize this new voice doesn’t sound like Dimitri’s at all. He finally turns around to see a worried-looking Ashe joining Dimitri in the kitchen doorway, with a calmer Dedue in tow.

He doesn’t have time to drop the pumpkin before Ashe notices and continues, his voice tinged with inexplicable relief.

"I-i’m glad you found them! What are you carving?" Ashe slides up next to Felix, seemingly much too excited about the prospect of Felix being creative of his own volition for once. "...Ah, but you should... really draw an outline before you start carving."

Felix sighs as Ashe brings out a pack of markers from the deep pockets of his robe. A quick glance over to the doorway shows that he has no chance of escaping the kitchen right now, so he doesn’t see any choice but to resign himself to his fate.

"...Fine. Throw me a marker, then."

* * *

"Hmm… We could just go for a nice smile, but that might be a bit too bland… What do you think?"

"A flower?" Dedue offers, to Ashe’s engaged nods. "Large petals should be easy to carve out."

"Oh, and we can leave the inside of some of the petals sort of half carved out? That way we could get some shading, without actually… well, shading," Ashe chuckles. Their lively brainstorming is in stark contrast to Felix and Dimitri, standing next to each other in slightly tense silence. Felix has given up on trying to make physical space between Dimitri and himself, but is fully determined not to acknowledge Dimitri’s eyes peering over his shoulder as he finishes drawing the sharp outline of a broadsword on his pumpkin.

As he draws the last connecting line and picks up the knife again, Dimitri speaks up behind him. "...Would you consider putting something like a shield behind the sword? I think it would make a nice backdrop."

Felix doesn’t look up, doubly annoyed at Dimitri for making an unsolicited suggestion and for having the absolute audacity to come up with _good_ ideas. Instead, he quietly picks the marker back up and starts sketching out a blocky shield. Even without turning around, he can sense the stupid, soft smile on Dimitri’s face. For some equally stupid reason, he can’t stop himself from vividly picturing it, over and over again, even as he repeatedly stabs into his pumpkin to try to rid himself of the vision.

This line of thoughts is mercifully cut short by Ashe’s struggling noises from the other side of the counter. Of course he’d have a hard time with this, Felix thinks to himself as he looks over – he’s been noticing Ashe’s lack of arm strength every time they’ve sparred, and the poorly taken care of knives in this mansion aren’t exactly making the tough, hollowed-out pumpkins any easier to saw through.

Dedue seems to notice Ashe’s struggles too, and moves up right behind him. Without a word, he leans in slightly and curls his arm around Ashe, wrapping his hand around Ashe’s fingers to lend some more power to the carving. Felix can see Ashe tilt his head down and fluster slightly, but Dedue’s force does seem to help him slice through the pumpkin flesh easier.

Of course, Dimitri, who’s been watching this whole interaction alongside Felix, just _has_ to speak up again.

"Ah, Felix, would you perhaps want me to assis–" he starts, seemingly totally oblivious to how transparent he’s being, before Felix cuts him off.

"Definitely not. I don’t need your help. Actually, you can handle the rest on your own. I’m done with this," he spits and steps away, handing the knife and pumpkin over to a perplexed Dimitri.

Dimitri, unsure how to respond to Felix’s sudden saltiness, just starts carving where he left off. His sawing is slow and almost timid, his hands trembling slightly as he moves the knife back and forth – not daring to use his full strength for fear of just slicing straight through the pumpkin, Felix understands. At this rate, Ashe and Dedue will finish their carving before Felix’s is even halfway done.

Felix grimaces slightly. Of course, of course they’d end up like this after all. Trying very hard not to think about what he’s doing or how it looks to anyone around him, he silently wraps his arms around Dimitri to help him control his strength, ending up mirroring how Dedue helped Ashe despite his best efforts.

...Trying to, that is. Unfortunately, their height gap isn’t working in Felix’s favour, and he’s left stretching to grab Dimitri’s wrists instead of his hands, with his face firmly buried in Dimitri’s furry collar.

After some quick, awkward posturing and shuffling around, Felix indignantly slips in between Dimitri’s arms after all, ending up with Dimitri leaned up against his back but with his hands on Dimitri’s. He can feel Dimitri’s face flushing right above him, and tries his hardest to ignore it.

"Just be quiet and carve," Felix snaps, without Dimitri having said even a single word. It’s all he can do to stay focused on guiding Dimitri’s hands, guiding his mind off every stray thought of how nice and warm and comforting Dimitri feels against his back, and how dangerous it is to even start to think that he never wants to leave... 

"You two should really get a room, you know."

Felix jumps slightly at his thoughts getting interrupted, initially relieved for an excuse to stop dwelling – significantly less so when he notices who the voice belongs to. He instantly steps forward to make some space between his back and Dimitri, slamming his forehead hard into a cabinet in the process.

"Fuck. … _Sylvain_."

"Flattered, but you seem to have your hands pretty full already," Sylvain quips, and Mercedes pokes her head out next to him to temper the death glare Felix is sending through him.

Sylvain can’t help but grin back at Felix angrily rubbing his forehead, even moreso when he sees the design Dimitri’s carving into their pumpkin.

"A sword and shield? _Really?_ You two are so transparent, honestly," he chuckles. Felix’s rapid flustering just spurs him on, if anything. "Heh, that brings back so many memories of tiny Felix telling us, totally seriously, that he would be Dimitri’s swo–"

"One more word and this knife goes in you," Felix snaps back, his face a shade of red rivaling Sylvain’s hair. Sylvain grins again, runs a finger up his nun outfit and continues unbothered.

"Aww, you wouldn’t hurt a poor man of the cloth, would you? Anyway, as I was saying, Felix would run up to Ingrid and me with this shield that was way too big for him..."

Recognizing that there’s no way to stop this habit of Sylvain’s without serious bodily harm, Felix tries his best to tune him out and keep working on the carving, silently wishing Mercedes would put her scythe to use already – frankly not minding whether she take Sylvain’s or his own soul first.

  
Once all the pumpkins are close enough to how they were meant to look, and Sylvain’s regaled the kitchen with enough childhood stories to somehow even fluster Ashe, Mercedes brings out some votive candles to fill the pumpkins with. Felix’s decidedly non-vampiric thirst for Sylvain’s blood is tamed slightly by the realization that he’ll need to show his work to the rest of the party crowd, but once the candles are lit he decides he’s proud enough (if not completely) of how the design turned out. Felix lifts the chunky jack-o’-lantern carefully, Dimitri picks up the rest of the pumpkins on the counter, and they carry their handiwork back out to the sitting room.

The rest of the party is still as lively as ever. There are a couple of friendly conversations going on in various parts of the room – Claude is gathering up apples in a bucket together with Raphael, and Ingrid and Annette are chatting away while stringing up baked goods on a fishing line. Annette is the first to notice the pumpkin Felix is carrying, and shines up immediately.

"Wait, didn’t you say you hadn’t seen _Loog and the Maiden_?"

The confused look on Felix’s face and Ingrid chuckling next to her tells her everything she needs to know.

"...Okay, who put you up to this? Did Ashe draw this for you?"

"No, not at all," Ashe replies as Ingrid’s laughs grow louder and louder. "I just… didn’t point it out. Or stop them."

Annette’s chuckling along with Ingrid at this point. "I can’t believe this! You just came up with the logo of that show on your own? It really is just like those stories Sylvain told me abou–"

A telling glance from Sylvain, still being stared daggers at by Felix, shut her mouth with a smile.

Felix bites his cheek hard to avoid scowling at Annette, of all people, and turns his head towards Dimitri for a distraction.

Dimitri laughs along nervously. "Should we… perhaps find something else to do?"

"Give me something I can actually win at." [Leads to capstone 1.1]

"I’m too hungry to think straight." [Leads to capstone 1.2]

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, and please enjoy the rest of the story, whichever paths you choose to go down!
> 
> You can find me on Twitter as well: [@maerissa_](https://twitter.com/maerissa_)  
> Endless thanks to my dearest [@nyoggets](https://twitter.com/nyoggets) for her perfect [illustrations](https://twitter.com/nyoggets/status/1324103297867882501). 💕  
> Thank you also to all the other authors and artists involved in the Spiderweb project, as well as organizer [Eza](https://twitter.com/eznochi) and assembly magician [Slip](https://twitter.com/slip_fe3h). Looking forward to next Halloween already!


End file.
